(1) A "legal
resident" or "resident" is a person who qualifies as a
domiciliary of North Carolina; a "nonresident" is a person who does
not qualify as a domiciliary of North Carolina.

(2) A "resident
for tuition purposes" is a person who qualifies for the in-State tuition
rate; a "nonresident for tuition purposes" is a person who does not
qualify for the in-State tuition rate.

(3)
"Institution of higher education" means any of the constituent
institutions of the University of North Carolina and the community colleges
under the jurisdiction of the State Board of Community Colleges.

(b) To qualify as a
resident for tuition purposes, a person must have established legal residence
(domicile) in North Carolina and maintained that legal residence for at least
12 months immediately prior to his or her classification as a resident for
tuition purposes. Every applicant for admission shall be required to make a
statement as to his length of residence in the State.

(c) To be eligible
for classification as a resident for tuition purposes, a person must establish
that his or her presence in the State currently is, and during the requisite 12-month
qualifying period was, for purposes of maintaining a bona fide domicile rather
than of maintaining a mere temporary residence or abode incident to enrollment
in an institution of higher education.

(d) An individual shall
not be classified as a resident for tuition purposes and, thus, not rendered
eligible to receive the in-State tuition rate, until he or she has provided
such evidence related to legal residence and its duration as may be required by
officials of the institution of higher education from which the individual
seeks the in-State tuition rate.

(e) When an
individual presents evidence that the individual has living parent(s) or court-appointed
guardian of the person, the legal residence of such parent(s) or guardian shall
be prima facie evidence of the individual's legal residence, which may be
reinforced or rebutted relative to the age and general circumstances of the
individual by the other evidence of legal residence required of or presented by
the individual; provided, that the legal residence of an individual whose
parents are domiciled outside this State shall not be prima facie evidence of
the individual's legal residence if the individual has lived in this State the
five consecutive years prior to enrolling or reregistering at the institution
of higher education at which resident status for tuition purposes is sought.

(f) In making
domiciliary determinations related to the classification of persons as
residents or nonresidents for tuition purposes, the domicile of a married
person, irrespective of sex, shall be determined, as in the case of an
unmarried person, by reference to all relevant evidence of domiciliary intent.
For purposes of this section:

(1) No person shall
be precluded solely by reason of marriage to a person domiciled outside North
Carolina from establishing or maintaining legal residence in North Carolina and
subsequently qualifying or continuing to qualify as a resident for tuition
purposes;

(2) No persons shall
be deemed solely by reason of marriage to a person domiciled in North Carolina
to have established or maintained a legal residence in North Carolina and
subsequently to have qualified or continued to qualify as a resident for
tuition purposes;

(3) In determining
the domicile of a married person, irrespective of sex, the fact of marriage and
the place of domicile of his or her spouse shall be deemed relevant evidence to
be considered in ascertaining domiciliary intent.

(g) Any nonresident
person, irrespective of sex, who marries a legal resident of this State or
marries one who later becomes a legal resident, may, upon becoming a legal
resident of this State, accede to the benefit of the spouse's immediately
precedent duration as a legal resident for purposes of satisfying the 12-month
durational requirement of this section.

(h) No person shall
lose his or her resident status for tuition purposes solely by reason of
serving in the Armed Forces of the United States outside this State.

(h1) Any member of a North
Carolina National Guard unit who is a nonresident shall be eligible to be
charged the in-State tuition rate and shall pay the full amount of the in-State
tuition rate and applicable mandatory fees. This subsection applies to members
in a reserve or active duty status.

(i) A person
who, having acquired bona fide legal residence in North Carolina, has been
classified as a resident for tuition purposes but who, while enrolled in a
State institution of higher education, loses North Carolina legal residence,
shall continue to enjoy the in-State tuition rate for a statutory grace period.
This grace period shall be measured from the date on which the culminating
circumstances arose that caused loss of legal residence and shall continue for
12 months; provided, that a resident's marriage to a person domiciled outside
of North Carolina shall not be deemed a culminating circumstance even when said
resident's spouse continues to be domiciled outside of North Carolina; and provided,
further, that if the 12-month period ends during a semester or academic term in
which such a former resident is enrolled at a State institution of higher
education, such grace period shall extend, in addition, to the end of that
semester or academic term.

(j)
Notwithstanding the prima facie evidence of legal residence of an individual
derived pursuant to subsection (e), notwithstanding the presumptions of the
legal residence of a minor established by common law, and notwithstanding the
authority of a judicially determined custody award of a minor, for purposes of
this section, the legal residence of a minor whose parents are divorced,
separated, or otherwise living apart shall be deemed to be North Carolina for
the time period relative to which either parent is entitled to claim and does
in fact claim the minor as a dependent for North Carolina individual income tax
purposes. The provisions of this subsection shall pertain only to a minor who
is claimed as a dependent by a North Carolina legal resident.

Any person who immediately prior to his or her eighteenth
birthday would have been deemed under this subsection a North Carolina legal
resident but who achieves majority before enrolling at an institution of higher
education shall not lose the benefit of this subsection if that person:

(1) Upon achieving
majority, acts, to the extent that the person's degree of actual emancipation
permits, in a manner consistent with bona fide legal residence in North
Carolina; and

(2) Begins enrollment
at an institution of higher education not later than the fall academic term
next following completion of education prerequisite to admission at such
institution.

(k) Notwithstanding
other provisions of this section, a minor who satisfies the following
conditions immediately prior to commencement of an enrolled term at an
institution of higher education, shall be accorded resident tuition status for
that term:

(1) The minor has
lived for five or more consecutive years continuing to such term in North
Carolina in the home of an adult relative other than a parent, domiciled in
this State; and

(2) The adult
relative has functioned during those years as a de facto guardian of the minor
and exercised day-to-day care, supervision, and control of the minor.

A person who immediately prior to his or her eighteenth
birthday qualified for or was accorded resident status for tuition purposes
pursuant to this subsection shall be deemed upon achieving majority to be a
legal resident of North Carolina of at least 12 months' duration; provided,
that the legal residence of such an adult person shall be deemed to continue in
North Carolina only so long as the person does not abandon legal residence in
this State.

(l) Any
person who ceases to be enrolled at or graduates from an institution of higher
education while classified as a resident for tuition purposes and subsequently
abandons North Carolina domicile shall be permitted to reenroll at an
institution of higher education as a resident for tuition purposes without
necessity of meeting the 12-month durational requirement of this section if the
person reestablishes North Carolina domicile within 12 months of abandonment of
North Carolina domicile and continuously maintains the reestablished North
Carolina domicile at least through the beginning of the academic term(s) for
which in-State tuition status is sought. The benefit of this subsection shall
be accorded not more than once to any one person.

(m) Notwithstanding
subsection (b) of this section, a person who is a full-time employee of The
University of North Carolina, or is the spouse or dependent child of a full-time
employee of The University of North Carolina, and who is a legal resident of
North Carolina, qualifies as a resident for tuition purposes without having
maintained that legal residence for at least 12 months immediately prior to his
or her classification as a resident for tuition purposes. (1971, c. 845, ss. 7-9; 1973, cc. 710, 1364, 1377;
1975, c. 436; 1979, cc. 435, 836; 1981, cc. 471, 905; 1987, c. 564, s. 19;
1989, c. 728, s. 1.3; 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 1030, s. 32; 2004-130, s. 2;
2005-276, s. 9.25(a); 2011-183, s. 83.)